Hannity Suggests Obama Did Well In Berlin Because He’s A European Socialist Who Shares Their Disdain For America

Sean Hannity was in a bullyboy pique over Barack Obama’s successful speech in Berlin during most of last night’s (7/24/08) Hannity & Colmes. It surely didn’t help Hannity’s mood that Republican "author of Words that Work” Frank Luntz, who usually makes a point ofattackingObama, was positively glowing in his review of Obama’s speech. The sulky Hannity "explained" Obama's success by accusing him of being a “European socialist” who shares Europe’s disdain for the United States Of America. With video.

In his go round with Alan Colmes, Luntz called Obama’s speech, which drew more than 200,000 people in Berlin, “political theater at its best.” Luntz added, “You have to give Obama credit for having the ability, the poise and the presentation skills to be able to capture the hearts and the passion of almost a quarter of a million Berliners and this is a guy who is just a candidate for president of the United States.”

When it was Hannity’s turn, he began by saying peevishly, “We are electing the president of the United States. We’re not electing the president of Germany or Europe, in general, here.”

Hannity went on to note that Ronald Reagan and George Bush were not so well received. “Is it maybe that Obama’s liked so much because he supports European socialist ideas and that they agree with him on Iraq, they don’t agree the surge has been successful?”

Luntz replied, “I think that they like him so much because he represents such a significant change. Part of the responsibility of a president is stagecraft. And part of stagecraft is to capture the public’s imagination and get them to dream dreams and get them to want to work together... You cannot ignore the fact that the world community over the past week has been absolutely wowed by this individual at a time when American popularity is at its low point.”

That must have been so not what Hannity wanted to hear. “Great American” Hannity responded by disingenuously impugning Obama’s patriotism. Conveniently ignoring the video played earlier in the segment in which Obama talked about how much he loved America despite its imperfections, Hannity “asked,” “Could it be that Barack Obama shares Europe’s contempt and criticisms of America? Could it be that they agreed with him on the war? Could it be that they bow at the altar of the United Nations? Could it be that they don’t agree with Gitmo or tough interrogations? Could it be that they are, or they would talk to Ahmadinejad without preconditions? Could it all have to do with that? His ideology is one of (a) European socialist’s?”

Once again, Luntz responded not by attacking Obama (as Hannity clearly hoped) but by praising him. “What Obama has been able to do is transcend politics,” Luntz told Hannity. “You have to acknowledge that the American people are angry, they’re frustrated, they’re anxious about the future and John McCain has not been able to coalesce a message that is consistent, that is coherent and that grabs the emotion of the public. Obama has been able to cut through at a time when Americans do not trust the politicians.”

No, Hannity was not going to acknowledge that. “If there’s anything that’s frustrating to me, Frank, these are just words,” Hannity said petulantly. “He seems to agree with the European, anti-American sentiment and the belief in the United Nations. But I look at it this way. America’s 4% of the world’s population but we pay 96% of the cost of keeping the entire planet sane and free. And you know what? That’s what I would have said if I went to Europe."

Once again Luntz did not respond in the way Hannity was prodding him to do. Luntz said that Obama’s speech was “effective, not just for Europeans but for undecided voters in America.”

Memo to Hannity: Unlike the average American you purport to represent, the sinking value of the dollar would not put a European tour out of reach for you. Why don’t you go over there and tell those Europeans how you feel? I’m sure we’d all love to see how it goes over.